A SKIPPER who was more than twice over the legal limit and had to be rescued with his crew when his boat ran aground was fined £1,000 today.

George Wood, 52, who has a string of maritime convictions, gave a positive breath test after his vessel, the Honeybourne III, became stranded on a beach near Filey, North Yorkshire, in August.

The disgraced skipper, who has now lost his £31,000 a year job, had spent the previous night celebrating his birthday with friends and family in Scarborough, York Crown Court heard.

The multinational crew of seven was rescued by a passing fishing vessel and the Coastguard and taken to shore where the skipper failed a breath test.

The scallop fisherman was found to have 81 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath - more than twice the legal limit of 35 microgrammes.

Wood, from Treebank Crescent, Ayr, has previous maritime convictions, including travelling the wrong way down the English Channel which resulted in a £3,000 fine.

He also has other minor convictions including failing to keep a proper log book, excessive use of a dredger and failing to notify his arrival at port.

The court was told Wood, who first went to sea at the age of 15 and had been a skipper for 21 years, has now lost his job after admitting being over the prescribed limit while in charge of a boat.

He will now face a further disciplinary hearing to determine whether he can keep his certificate of competency, the equivalent of a driving licence.

He will now have to find a job on shore and will never be allowed to skipper a large boat.

Judge James Spencer, QC, told Wood: "The shame you must feel having allowed your vessel to go aground one can only imagine.

"The fact you were found at the time to be over the limit with alcohol may suggest to many people the two are connected. I am not persuaded that they are.

"You were twice over the limit, that cannot be ignored," the judge added.

The court was told Wood was carrying out an anchor training exercise with his multinational crew when the tide took him to the shore and he ran aground.

His barrister Jim Withyman said: "He radioed in, let off a flare and evacuated the vessel.

"He left it in a safe condition and went to shore with a view to getting someone to pull it off."